Spiritual Warfare Provisions - Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

Ephesians 6:14 - 17 (NKJV) - " Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation...."

Shoes. How is this important. I would again start with the Sword, but God directs Paul to the Belt, the Breastplate, and now --- shoes. I wear shoes, but why are they important in this setting? Shoes allow us to step freely and without fear while we turn our full attention to the battle at hand.

The gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of peace—these are some of descriptions attached to the word gospel in the New Testament. Do all these different qualifiers mean that there are multiple gospels set forth in the Bible? No. The Greek word translated gospel—euaggelion—simply means "good news." This raises a question: The good news of what? The first description used in the Gospels also summarizes all the others: The gospel of the Kingdom. The good news of the Kingdom of God includes the good news about Jesus Christ the King, His grace (unmerited pardon) and His plan of salvation for all mankind. This plan gives us peace now, and will bring peace to the whole world! Believers are sent to announce the good news of God's Kingdom, which will spread His way of peace around the whole world. Having our shoes on, we are ready to move, to spread these glad tidings to others.

The sandals of the Roman soldier "often were fitted with nails, or armed with spikes, to make the hold firm in the ground" (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible). God's good news and our mission—our marching orders—to preach it serve as our firm foundation. When we truly allow ourselves to take comfort in the good news promised by God, there is nothing from outside ourselves that can trouble our hearts or give us reason to be afraid. Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33), and so we have nothing to fear from it.

Today, stop and muse over the shoes you have on. Not your physical - but your spiritual shoes. Do you know personally the good news of the peace of God? Have you become a born-again believer? With the proper preparation, we can spread the news to a lost and dying world. Check your shoes - and then get into the battle.